The Presence
by Vin Bersmak
Summary: Link regains consciousness underground without any of his memories. An attempted horror oneshot. Rated M for safety.


**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are property of their respective owners.

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><p><strong>The Presence<strong>

Link woke with a start, brought back to life from the stench of rotting flesh and an icy chill that permeated the air. He had no weapons, no items, and no knowledge of where he was; all he could remember was the ground rushing up to meet him. He unconsciously touched his head and winced when a sharp pain pierced his skull. His hair was wet and sticky.

He opened his eyes, his blurry vision slow to focus. Adjusting to the dim lighting, he could barely make out a long and narrow hallway with various recesses in the walls. Several parts of the walls and floor were discolored. A pile of sticks sat to his left.

Link's heart began to race. He could feel an evil Presence lingering in the air, one that manifested itself in the coldness of his surroundings and the maliciousness of the very walls. Something brushed against the back of the neck, causing the hairs to stand on end, electrified in the static tension of the air.

Link whirled around, jumping fearfully away from a white cloud of mist caused by his own breath. He backed into a stone brick wall, only to jump forward again at its sticky, slimy touch. The Presence grew stronger, rushing down the hall to feed on his fear. Link stepped back and felt a sickening crunch under his foot. Looking down, he found himself face to face with a cluster of human skulls, all staring straight at him with eternal grins.

Everything seemed to transform before him. The sticks became a pile of human bones, the discolored cobblestones covered in blood. Link's heart shot up in tempo again. An icy draft passed him with a slight whisper. The Presence was gaining strength.

Link turned and fled down the hall, chased by his own rushing heart. Staring, blank eyes followed his every move from the walls, accompanied by the gleeful clatter of bones as he ran. The corridors twisted and turned, split and merged, looped back on themselves and twisted in endless mazes until Link was hopelessly lost.

The air constricted around him as the Presence approached. His head was throbbing, and he felt dizzy. Panting from both exertion and the icy solidity of the air, Link rounded a corner into a dead end. Panicking, he turned around, only to find a bloody wall trapping him in. No sign of his entryway existed.

Link backed into the corner, feeling the evil close in on him. The skulls cackled in delight, skeletal arms reaching out to grab his ankles. The air shimmered as the Presence entered the room, a faint black mist that pulsated with each beat of his heart. Tripping on a skeleton, Link fell backwards through the wall, and the Presence suddenly diminished.

He found himself in a small chamber. Jail cells lined two opposing walls, the others left to gather rotting corpses. Two wooden beams formed an X in the center of the room, dried blood stains covering the floor and wood. Dull grey chains hung from the tops of both beams, each possessing red splotches of their own.

There was a movement to his left, and the Presence suddenly regained strength. A giant, knobbly hand stood on its fingers in the corner, its fingers clicking the floor when it moved. Link stayed dead still, hoping that it wouldn't notice him. His heart pounded in his chest, and the Presence closed in on him. Feeling dizzy again, Link made a split decision, deciding to run from the icy chill.

The hand suddenly scuttled toward him with his movement. Link dashed toward the beams, running from both the Presence and the hand. With every step, the dizziness became worse and his eyesight became blurry until he suddenly found himself in another corridor. With the hand gone and his vision improved, Link renewed his efforts to escape.

As he dashed down the corridor, the Presence closed in again, chasing him down each turn he took. Link was on the verge of collapse. His head was throbbing from the loss of blood, his heart ready to burst from exhaustion. The Presence was directly behind him, causing Link to shudder as he fled.

Seeing a door, Link made a final push towards it, entering a large dirt chamber just as the Presence overtook him. Unlike his last two escapes, the Presence did not leave. It surrounded him, freezing him, blurring his vision and amplifying the pain.  
>Link looked up at his escape route, only to see in horror six long, thin arms sticking straight out of the ground. The black mist entered his body as he breathed in, causing a terrible agony to shoot through his body. His dizziness increased, accompanied by a loud throbbing in his head. His vision constricted into nothing more than narrow tunnels. Link only had time to watch the nearest hand reach out to grab him before he fell unconscious to the ground.<p>

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> A short story I wrote in about an hour while listening to Yakety Sax.


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